Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

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NoiseAnnoys
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Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

Post by NoiseAnnoys » Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:31 pm

I'm finally going through with my plans to throw some lipsticks in my trusty MIJ Jaguar. I've heard various things about what pots to pair with them though-- some people suggest 100k on the volume, for example. Others say just bypass the volume altogether, especially if I'm using vintage-output lipsticks, and more people on TGP suggested just using standard 250k. I'm also debating just bypassing the tone entirely, since I don't really use it and that'll boost the signal too, right?

But I figure the collective knowledge here is probably the best on the net for offsets, so what would you guys suggest?

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therizzla
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Re: Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

Post by therizzla » Wed Mar 16, 2011 3:39 pm

The Seymour Duncan wiring diagrams for both "lipsticktubes in Strat" and "lipsticktubes in Danelectro" show 250k. If it was my project I'd start there and keep the tone pot wired in as I like using it on my Dano bari.
reverb.

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ukfuzz
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Re: Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

Post by ukfuzz » Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:41 pm

Personally, I'd stay with the 1M pots pickups wired either series/parallel or just straight up series for "that" Dano sound. Keep the tone pot.

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Re: Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

Post by RobinsonCrusoe » Thu Mar 17, 2011 3:14 am

The stacket concentric pots on my Danelectro Guitarlin measured 1meg/100K and these pots sounds awesome to my.

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Re: Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

Post by NoiseAnnoys » Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:06 am

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Maybe I will leave the tone in after all-- I've never had anything with lipsticks, so who knows if I'll use it more than I do now.

So, what would the functional difference be of using 1 meg versus 250k or 100k pots? I always thought that you went with smaller pot values for single coils with low output, right?

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Re: Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

Post by dug » Thu Mar 17, 2011 11:23 am

I wouldn't use 1 meg pots, they'd be too bright.

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Re: Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

Post by ukfuzz » Thu Mar 17, 2011 12:53 pm

dug wrote:I wouldn't use 1 meg pots, they'd be too bright.
"Too bright" like ice-pick treble or..?
FWIW, I had a custom-wound lipstick (vintage Dan specs) in the bridge of my Tele with 1M pots and an .047 cap -- wide open it wasn't even close to too bright. I have a Duncan lipstick (different animal) in the neck of that same Tele and it's so perfect it hurts.
Get some vintage spec lipsticks from Curtis Novak and experiment with different cap values on the 1M. Or, better yet, ask him for advice on caps when you order.

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Re: Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

Post by mufanito » Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:02 pm

ukfuzz wrote:
dug wrote:I wouldn't use 1 meg pots, they'd be too bright.
"Too bright" like ice-pick treble or..?
FWIW, I had a custom-wound lipstick (vintage Dan specs) in the bridge of my Tele with 1M pots and an .047 cap -- wide open it wasn't even close to too bright. I have a Duncan lipstick (different animal) in the neck of that same Tele and it's so perfect it hurts.
Get some vintage spec lipsticks from Curtis Novak and experiment with different cap values on the 1M. Or, better yet, ask him for advice on caps when you order.

Caps shouldn´t be an issue if the tone pot is at 10. They only make a difference once you start dialing down the tone pot, right?

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Re: Recommended pots for lipstick pickups?

Post by ukfuzz » Thu Mar 17, 2011 1:50 pm

mufanito wrote:
ukfuzz wrote:
dug wrote:I wouldn't use 1 meg pots, they'd be too bright.
"Too bright" like ice-pick treble or..?
FWIW, I had a custom-wound lipstick (vintage Dan specs) in the bridge of my Tele with 1M pots and an .047 cap -- wide open it wasn't even close to too bright. I have a Duncan lipstick (different animal) in the neck of that same Tele and it's so perfect it hurts.
Get some vintage spec lipsticks from Curtis Novak and experiment with different cap values on the 1M. Or, better yet, ask him for advice on caps when you order.

Caps shouldn´t be an issue if the tone pot is at 10. They only make a difference once you start dialing down the tone pot, right?
Correct. I mentioned the cap value in the interest of full disclosure. ;D

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